Means for holding battery elements.



F. E. WHITNEY & M. MELIA.

MEANS Foa HOLDING BAUERY ELEMENTS. APPLICATION FILED JULY 21. ISIS. 1,267,61 3. Patented May 28,191&

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'ran STATES :WHITNEY AND MARTIN MELIA, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA,

ASSIGNOBS TO, COMMERCIAL TRUCK COMPANY 0F AMERICA, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

MEANS FOR HOLDING BATTERY ELEMENTS.

To JZ l'Lo/wm it may concern:

lle it known that we, FRANK E. WHITNEY and Maurin Mania, citizens of the United States, and residents of the cit and county ot Philadelphia, State of ennsylvania, have invented Means for Holding Battery Elements, of which the following is a speci- 'iication One object of our invention is to provide a relatively simple, inexpensive and easily utilized device for preventing movement and positively holding together the elements ot a storage battery, the construction being such that the device will automatically close up any spaces which may exist so that the separators, electrodes, etc., shall be maintained in the most intimate contact.

We further desire to provide a holding device of the character noted which may be easily inserted in or removed from a rbattery cell and which shall be una'ected by the electrolyte.

rl`hese objects and other advantageous ends we secure as hereinafter set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure l is an elevation partly in section illustrating a storage battery cell equipped with our invention; I

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one `of the wedging elements and Fig. 3 is a. detachedperspective `view of certain ot the parts illustrated in `Fig. 1.

ln the above drawing, l represents the hard rubber or glass jar or container which has extending transversely across its lower portion two or more upwardly projecting ribs whereby the plates, etc., are supported at seine distance from the bottom of the jar. ln the present instance we have illustrated a wooden or other porous separator and a rubber separator 5 interposed between each of the positive electrodes 6 and the adjacent negative electrodes 3, it being noted that the rubber separators are relatively thin and flexible and have narrow, parallel, elongated slots.

Each of the positive electrodes 6 has one oi these rubber separators mounted immediately adjacent its face and between each of' said rubber separators and the adjacent negative plate is a porous separator 4 preferably made of a thin plate of wood having parallel vertically projecting ribs on that Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 28, QS.

Application filed July 27, 1916. Serial No. 111,625.

face `adjacent the rubber separator. The positlve and negative electrodes are provided with suitable lugs and terminal strips and the battery cell is closed by a cover 7 preferably held in place by sealing material 8 placed in the corners between it and the sides of the cell.

ln order to press the separators and plates into the rnost intimate contact and maintain them therein so that their relatiife movement is etectually prevented and all spaces between the positive plates and the rubber separators taken up, we provide a hard rubber or other suitable plate 9 of practically the same shape and area as one of the electrodes and form this with horizontally extending ribs which increase in thickness from the top toward the bottom so that the plate in e'ect consists of a series of horizontally elongated wedges having their thicker portions downward. Between this rubber plate 9 and the adjacent battery electrode 3 we mount a second and similarly formed plate l0 which however is preferably Inade of the same material as that constituting the frames of the electrodes, in the present instance lead, although obviously it may be made of any other suitable relatively heavy material which is not attacked by the electrolyte.

This second plate like the plate 9 is provided with a series of horizontal ribs or integral wedges which however have their thick portions upper-rnost although their dimensions are practically the same as those of said plate 9. This second plate is preferably provided with a perforated lug or eye l1 at its upper edge and it is noted that its length is considerably less than that ot' the latter plate.

1When these two plates are mounted between one side of the battery cell and the nearest battery electrode, one with the thin part of its ribs adjacent the thick portion of the ribs of the other, said plates and separators of the battery may be forcibly moved and held together by forcing: the plate l0 downward; it being noted that this plate is held in its uppermost position while the electrodes and separators are being put in place. ln moving down, its inclined surfaces will ride upon those of the plate 9 and force it outwardly, thus pressing or forcing together the battery plates and electrodes.

yllhereafter while the battery is in service this second plate l0 will automatically act to taire up any space which may occur between the electrodes and separators due to vibration or change'in dimensions in any of the parts, since its weight will constitute a continuously7 acting force lending to move it down relatively to the plate 9.

Ordinarily the outer electrode on the opposite side of the cell will rest directly against the vertical wall of the container, though if desired a second pair of wedge elements 12 and .13 can be mounted between it. and said wall, in which case they will act as above described. Owing to this ti ht binding together of the separators and e ectrodes, the active material is' more eifectually than heretofore retained in position on the positive electrodes, thus not only increasing the life of the plates but preventing possible damage to plates and separators which would otherwise occur owing to their relative movement. Y

lf it be desired to remove the electrodes and separators, the holding members 9 and 10 are first taken out by drawing the latter upwardly by means of a hook placed through the perforation of the lug 1l. 1When said plate has been moved to a position in which the edges of its ribs are out of engagement with the ribs of the plate 9, both ofthe plates are free to be bodily lifted out of the cell.

lt is to be understood that without departing from our invention the plate 9 may be permanently fixed to or in some eases made integral with the wall of the jar or container l. ln such case the plate l0 will be held up in the position shown in Fig. l, until the elements and separators have been inserted and will then be forced down to hold these in place or be allowed to gradually worlr its way down to a final holding position under the action of` gravity.

A. further advantage of my arrangement and construction lies in the fact that when one or more of the elements is raised in order to remove the same from the cell, the member 10 is necessarily also drawn upwardly and at. the same time moved toward the member 9. More room is thus provided for the various elements, etc., so that their removal is facilitated.

We claim l. The combination of a battery jar; electrodes and separators therein; with a plurality of plates having inclined rco-acting surfaces and free to move relatively to each other to cause the inclined surface of one aora plate to ride upon that of the other plate c and taire up any spaces between'the electrodes.

2. rlhe combination of a battery cell; and two plates betweenV one wall of the jarof said cell and the face of the electrode adja- 6 cent said wall, said plates having inclined :co-acting surfaces-and one of them being weighted and free to move down relatively to the other.

3. The combination of a battery cell; with 7 an 'automatically acting device for taking up any spaces between the electrodes and separators of the cell, said device including a plate of relatively leavy material having a series of transverse substantiallyy parallel 7 outwardly inclined surfaces formed to coact with similar surfaces within the cell.'

i. The combination ofa battery cell consisting of a jar; electrodes; separators 3V and an expansible device having tWo series of 8 substantially parallel eoacting inclined faces for forcibly pressing together the separators and electrodes within the jar.

5. rl`he combination of a battery jar; positive and negative electrodes therein; rela- 8 tively thin non-conducting perforated separator plates adjacent the faces of each positive electrode; porous separator plates between each perforated plate and the adjacent negative plate; and means for clamp- 9 ing said electrodes and separators Vwithin the jar to retain the porous plates in intimate engagement with the faces of the positive electrodes including at least one plate of relatively heavy material having a plu- 9 rality of transverse ribs providing surfaces acutely inclined to its plane.

6. rlhe combination with a battery cell of means for preventing movement of the elec-" trodes, the same consisting of a relatively 1I light plate having horizontally elongated inclined surfaces; and a relatively heavy plate likewise having elongated inclined surfaces eoacting with those of said first plate and mounted between it and the adjacent l electrode ofthe cell, said second plate being free to move down to automatically press together the electrodes of the cell.

7. rlhe combination in a battery of a jar;

electrodes and separators therein; two plates l2 respectively of insulating material and metal having inclined coacting surfaces and mounted to permit said metal plate moving under the action of gravity to cause the electrodes and separators to be 'tightly held within l' the jar.

FRANK E. l/VHTNEY. MARTIN MElJl. 

